Today In Syria: The Regime’s Supporters

BSyria, a protestor and blogger, explains how the regime manages to get crowds to come out in its favor despite such brutality:

[N]one of the regime tactics to force people out onto the street are fool proof. (I don’t think it is difficult for people to sneak out of rallies unnoticed.) However, Syria is still a country ruled by fear. In the early days of uprising, enthusiastic media declared that people are no longer afraid. That is not accurate. What has changed is people’s willingness to challenge this fear, but it is still there. I know of pro-democracy persons who joined pro-regime rallies to dispel suspicions that they are anti-regime. So, yes, the regime has supporters. But many of the people you see in a pro-regime rally are not there completely of their own accord.

Meanwhile, the opposition [NYT] is meeting with the British government while the latter sponsors a UN resolution condemning the crackdown, prompting an Assad minion to accuse Britain of waging "political and media and diplomatic war" on Syria. In more international pressure news, Erdogan himself – for the first time – called directly for Assad's resignation. Stephen Starr takes a look at the impacts of sanctions and domestic strikes on the Syrian economy. This video from Homs shows how much damage is being done to Syrian cities by Assad's crackdown:

This protest in Idlib seems almost carnival-like:

Finally, this video captures Samer Abel Mihsen's dying breaths after being shot by the army on the 19th: